How to use the Check-in Feature on your Multi-Table Tournament

Poker Now is introducing the option to require a check-in from participants in your Multi-Table Tournament. With this new feature, users can request participation and be approved by the tournament host, just as they can today. However, they will also need to complete a participation check-in step within a specific time window defined by you to ensure a seat in your tournament. This new feature is designed to drastically reduce the number of “no-show” participants, keeping your tournament exciting right from the start.

First, if you are new to running a Multi-Table Tournament on Poker Now, we recommend you to read our tutorial on how to run a tournament.

Second, we strongly recommend reading our tutorial on this feature from the participant’s perspective to understand how it works.

Activating the Check-In

To activate the check-in feature, go to the tournament configuration screen and click “Yes” under the “Participation Check-in” option.

As soon as you activate it, you will see the “Auto-Approve Players on Registration List?” option and the “Tournament Schedule” table.

The “Auto-Approve Players on Registration List?” option allows you to automatically approve everyone who requests participation in your tournament for the check-in list. However, this means their seat won’t be guaranteed until they complete the participation check-in.

The “Tournament Schedule” table is where you will define “check-in groups,” much like the boarding groups in airplane boarding. Take the example below:

• In this example, the first 100 players who requested participation in your tournament will have 20 minutes to perform the check-in, while other players will have to wait for the appropriate time.

• After 20 minutes, the first 200 players who requested participation in your tournament will have another 20 minutes to complete the check-in, while other players will need to wait for the appropriate time.

• After more 20 minutes, all players that requested participation on your tournament will be able to perform the check-in until you create the tables for your tournament.

Opening the Check-in

If you haven’t set a date for your tournament’s automatic start in the field “Scheduled Automatic Start Date and Time (leave blank for manual start),” you will see a button on your dashboard to open the check-in.

Whenever you feel it’s time to start the tournament, you can click on the “Create Game (Pre-Start)” button to proceed to the next steps of the tournament.

You will be able to check the number of players who have completed the check-in and those who haven’t yet on the tournament dashboard.

With the open check-in, players will proceed with the check-in, as described on the check-in tutorial.